What does D'Arvit mean?

Question

D'Arvit is the most commonly used Gnommish word in the Artemis Fowl series. We know it's a swear word from the first time it's introduced:

“D’Arvit!” growled Root. (There is no point translating that word as it would have to be censored.)

_{-- Artemis Fowl, Chapter 5: Missing in Action (emphasis mine)}

And from one of the later books:

“Hurkk,” said Artemis half-choking with surprise.

“D’Arvit,” swore Holly.

“I think we all know what D’Arvit means,” said No.1. “But hurkk is not English.

_{-- AF and the Time Paradox, Chapter 5: I Now Pronounce You (emphasis mine)}

Is the actual meaning of the word D'Arvit ever revealed or implied? Perhaps some hints are dropped from which its general ballpark can be deduced (e.g. is it sexual? does it refer to bodily waste?) Or perhaps Colfer has said something about this in an interview?

Answer 1

From here:

Despite popular belief D'arvit was not the creation of popular Irish author Eoin Colfer. In the Aran islands their is a legend that a dark banshee (Banshee which goes against the laws of magic) will rip your soul from your body when your alone regardless of whether your dieing or not and u feel a chill run up your spine a dark banshee is near and the only way to protect yourself would be to utter "Dh'ábhoit". The folklore was told all over the provinces of Connacht and Munster but during the English conquest by Henry the VIII. It was anglicized as "d'arvit".which is pronounced the same as the original and now its mainly used in Gaeltacht of Connacht as a form of a curse or cuss, in english or Gaelic (Irish). The word is seen as the equivilant of "Fuck" due to its versatility. Some see it's new found popularity as a curse on the Irish Language while some see it as a piece of Irish everywhere. It's use outside of Ireland is rare though.

However, this is pretty questionable.

The Internet invented an unverifiable legend for the fairy swear word "D'Arvit."

I know that I've tried a few Gaelic dictionaries (including some specific to the Connacht dialect) and come up with no matches.

Answer 2

D'arvit is used as an expletive or exclamation, "D'arvit!" or "Dammit!" in English.

"Arvit" is a Jewish prayer service said in the evening or afternoon which is also known as "Maariv." It is a short service, like evening prayer in other religions. (Please see Maariv in Wikipedia).

The d' portion of the word is another language, namely French, which means "of".

It's common to disguise expletives and curses with religious implications to be able to curse but sound pious at the same time. For example "hocus pocus" (hoc est corpus meum, is a Latin Liturgical phrase, is literally "thsi is my body" yet in popular usage means "nonsense;" or, "Sacramento California!" can be said with the same intonation as "I'll be gosh darned," and "Mama Mia" leaves one wondering if they were referring to Mother Mary or My Mother.

So, on the surface it appears as a benign almost religious expletive literally "of evening prayer" (in two different languages) but it sounds like "dammit" in English.